


King's Game

by VanillaChuu



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Cute Han Jisung | Han, Fluff, High School, I CHANGE MY MIND JEONGIN IS NO LONGER SINGLE, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jealous Han Jisung | Han, M/M, Tags May Change, Violence, a little bit of jilix, jilix, king's game, minho is a minhoe, multifandom - Freeform, my humour is bad sorry, someone dies oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2020-07-28 16:49:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20067325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaChuu/pseuds/VanillaChuu
Summary: J.Y Pacific Academy, a place where prestigious students are housed and only the best are allowed to graduate. A place with beautiful grounds, the highest quality equipment and a clean record. But hidden, beneath this pristine facade , lies a twisted and deadly 'game'. Mentions of the 'game' must only call it as the 'King's Game', and everyone must participate - whether they like it or not.Unfortunately for some new students, they have been targeted as the new 'Pawns'.(BEING REWRITTEN)





	1. Prologue - Alice's trip down the Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> This is my first AU I have ever written, so sorry if there are many mistakes ;; - ;; 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it! (Even if it's for a tad bit)

The sounds of rushed footsteps echoed loudly throughout the hallway. Pants and fast breaths escaped the individual as they took a sharp left turn, knocking over a vase. 

𝗦𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗛

Pieces of the vase sliced through the person's pants as they fell onto the floor. The shattering of the marble vase didn't phase them as they sped past it, however. Faintly, in the distance, the sound of light footsteps could be heard following them. 

  
  


⤜♥♟♥⤛

Light that shone through the glass windows illuminated the dark hallways, exposing the person's shadow being chased by another entity. 

The unknown entity was quick and agile, being able to keep up with the person's pace. It's features were not highlighted by the bright moonlight unlike the individual's. The glare showcased the individual's face was battered and beaten, with illuminated sweat drops that fell down the side of their cheeks. Their physique was that of a young male which adorned a ripped and dirtied school uniform. As the student ran, a badge glistened within the light. 

'ᴊ.ʏ.ᴘ.ᴀ'

Adrenaline coursed through the student's veins as he pushed his legs to run faster. His breathing becoming more unstable as he needed to supply his body with more oxygen. The area in front of him was becoming more of a blur as time passed.

Seconds felt like hours.

Minutes felt like days.

His body became exhausted as his legs powered onward. His fists clenched tighter, with his nails digging into the palms of his hands. Blood extruded from his palms trickling downwards to his wrists. He felt excruciating pain from his body tensing up as he ran.

He was slowing down. 

He took a quick glance over his shoulder. The entity was in close proximity to him. His eyes widened and in a last attempt of freedom tried to speed up his pace. With such blurred vision however, he tripped over his own feet causing him to lose balance and crash onto the polished travertine floor. He struggled to push himself off the ground, only to be kicked on his side by the entity. The student winced and grabbed his side, agonizing over the gripping pain he felt. His vision faded in and out as he looked up at his attacker. 

⤜♥♞♥⤛

His attacker was cloaked in black with the moonlight from the window shining upon them, casting an ominous shadow. The facials of his attacker was mostly unseen due to their dark grey Oni-styled half mask. On closer inspection, the mask they wore was rustic and had small dents near the horns. It bared a menacing facial expression which was highlighted by the person's wicked grin. Their Cheshire-like smile haunted their victims as it would be the last thing they would see before they disappeared. 

Students who witnessed this person dubbed them, 'Cheshire'. And their victim was always mentioned by Cheshire as their 'Alice'. 

"P-please don't do this!" The student begged, "I'll do a-anything just please-!" Drips of blood oozed from the student's mouth. 

A maniac laughter escaped from the Cheshire's lips. The student's quivering body shook uncontrollably. A hand quickly grabbed the student's neck and raised him into the air, it's grip on the boy tightened as he struggled to free himself.

"Tsk, tsk, you should know the rules by now," another wicked grin flashed upon the Chesire's face, "everyone has to face the consequences Alice, although you were fun while it lasted." The Cheshire released the male from their grasp and let him fall onto the ground. A scream of pain filled the hallway. The Cheshire then got closer to the student - as tears fell down from the boy's face - and whispered closely into his ear. 

_"This is the King's Game after all."_

_"And your part has come to an end."_

⤜♥♕♡⤛


	2. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A new day, a new life.
> 
> What kind of wonders shall we see today?
> 
> I hope I get to meet you soon...
> 
> My new Alice..."

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛ 

Vibrant rays of light escaped from the silk, white curtains. The light danced across a young boy's sleeping face - eagerly awaiting for him to wake up. The boy's round cheeks puffed up as he pouted at the sudden glare, disrupting his slumber. His tired eyes slowly opened up revealing an older woman in front of him, standing with her arms crossed.

"Wake up sweetie, otherwise you will be late for your first day!" The young boy muttered something under his breath and attempted to wrap himself into the blanket. The woman rolled her eyes and pulled off the blanket. 

"Ahh, it's too bright!!" He rubbed his eyes with the sleeves of his jumper and drowsily glanced at his surroundings, "what time is it?"

"It's 8:00! Your classes start at 9, you're going to have to run to school in order to get there on time. Your friend Chan has been calling you for the past hour!" She shoved the boy's phone in front of his face, revealing 10 missed calls from a contact named "𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬-𝐩𝐲" 

"OH SHI-"

"NO SWEARING IN THIS HOUSEHOLD MISTER!"

"SORRY MUM!" The boy quickly took out his school uniform from his closet and ran to the bathroom to get changed. He threw on his dark pants and slipped into his black leather oxfords. He quickly fitted on his grey undershirt and tightened his red tartan tie, completing the look with a navy blazer with a gold trim. Before leaving the bathroom, he quickly brushed through his chestnut hair with his hand and shot some finger guns into the mirror. 

As he was about to run out of his house, his mother yelled out to him. "You forgot your badge!" The badge she had gave off a small glint, with letters 'ᴊ.ʏ.ᴘ.ᴀ' engraved on it. "Oh! And before I forget," she leaned in and placed a kiss on the boy's forehead, "good luck on your first day, sweetie." A loving smile graced her lips. 

"Will do mum!" He flashed his signature gummy smile towards her. Rushing, he grabbed his leather shoulder bag off the rack near the front door and sprinted outside of his house.

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛ 

It took the boy nearly forty minutes to run to school from his house, he gasped for air and felt his knees about to collapse from exhaustion when he heard a familiar voice.

"YAHH! OVER HERE!" 

The young student looked up and saw a bleached blonde male waving his arm rapidly at him. He smiled gently and took another deep breath before running towards them. The blonde was a head taller than the young boy and seemed a lot older. His appearance gave off a mature-type vibe, and to top it off he was handsome. Not to mention, a heart-warming bright smile - one that could put anyone's heart at ease. 

"Chan hyung! It's been a while since I last saw you," the younger pulled the elder into a warm embrace, laying his head on his shoulder.

"Knock it off will ya? It's only been a week," Chan grinned, "oh, yeah I was meant to give this to you." He fumbled around his blazer pocket, pulling out a name tag.

The name 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠, was engraved into the gold tag. 

"Oh? Thanks hyung! By the way, where's Changbin hyung?" Jisung questioningly tilted his head whilst fastening the tag to his blazer. Chan looked at him and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, he went inside the school already," he looked down at the boy and smirked, pinching his cheeks playfully, "also you should drop the honorifics Sungie~." Jisung pouted at the elder's actions, causing the boy's appearance to resemble that of a cute squirrel. He lightly brushed Chan's hands off his cheeks.

"Last time I did that Changbin hyung started a pillow fight at his house."

"What's wrong with a pillow fight?"

"Oh, nothing...just until he ran out of pillows and started throwing the couch." 

"Oh."

Chan stared at the boy with wide eyes whilst Jisung only shrugged and took out his phone checking the time.

'𝟪:𝟧𝟧 am', it read. 

His eyes widened. "YAH HYUNG!" Jisung screamed, "WHERE'S MY FIRST CLASS???" The elder looked at him bewildered.

"O-oh right! Follow me, you have to first attend the Induction Ceremony in the Banquet Hall." He grabbed the young student's wrist and rushed him through the gate towards the corridors. The gate they passed was of pure black and had a gold school emblem attached at the front. Though Jisung only saw the school briefly as he was being escorted, the scenery was enough to render him speechless. 

Blooms of bright colours blossomed on the grassy fields, complimenting the marbled footpaths. Leaves rustled in the warm breeze, as massive oak stumps were uniformly distributed around the school. The corridors were just as beautiful - they were filled to the brim with exquisite decor; crystal glass windows with frilled curtains, smooth travertine flooring, and smooth stone arches that reached towards the ceiling. 

It was breathtaking.

Before the boy could question how the school was able to afford any of this, they stopped running. In front of them laid a massive hall with large tables set in four columns, with multiple candelabrum's placed on them. Chatters and laughter resonated through the hall with many of the students not noticing the two. 

"Okay, we are here," Chan turned to Jisung branding his signature heart-warming smile, "I'll meet up with you later mate, now I gotta blast!" The blonde dashed off leaving the younger boy dazed. 

What was he supposed to do now? 

Cautiously, he scanned the hall looking for a place to sit. As he looked around, he noticed an empty spot near a group of boys and walked over towards them. 

"U-uhm do you mind?" He pointed at the seat empty place next to the student. The student turned around to look at him. Jisung's eyes widened. 

_ 'He's really pretty,' _ he thought.

Jisung stared at the pretty boy's face; his skin was soft and his hair was bleached like Chan's. He could also see some freckles scattered across their face. At that moment, he almost felt the urge to squish this boy's cheeks and stare into his eyes but, restrained himself from doing so. 

"Huh? Oh yeah of course! Take a seat mate," the boy smiled gleefully, his deep voice contrasting his adorable dimples, "my name is Felix by the way." Felix held out his hand.

_ 'They're small...cute.' _

Jisung immediately snapped out of his thoughts, happily shaking the student's hand and gave him a friendly smile. He quietly sat down and took off his bag, placing it underneath his seat.

"This is Seungmin and Jeongin," Jisung looked up as the blonde gestured to the student's on the opposite side of the table. 

"Hey there," one waved enthusiastically, whilst the other sheepishly whispered 'hi'. 

"O-oh hi! I'm Jisung, Han Jisung." He greeted both of them warmly.

One, who he presumed as Jeongin, was incredibly cute both in appearance and gestures. His small physique and face reminded him of a fox. The other being Seungmin, who had a warm aura around him whenever he smiled. He seemed to be very close to Jeongin and Felix, and seemed to be the 'protective' type in Jisung's eyes. Jisung felt a bit happier though, knowing he met up with them and felt his nerves calming down. The boys chatted excitedly, getting to know one another's hobbies and activities. They grew closer and it almost felt like they had known each other for years, despite it being their first meeting together. 

Jisung began to wonder if they had known each other earlier, would they all end up in the same spot as they are now? This thought kept replaying in his head as they continued their conversation.

⤜♥♛♛♛♥⤛ 

Suddenly, the hall was silenced, confusing the group as they wondered what was happening. Whispers and murmurs lead the boys eyes to focus at the entrance of the hall.

There were three looming black shadows standing at the doorway. As they crept closer inside the hall the door closed, shutting the gleaming light that cast the shadows revealing three students. Loud shouting and squealing erupted as the students strutted down the middle of the hall. 

"Oh my god! It's them!!"

"I didn't know they were going to be here! I should have worn make-up damn it!"

Girls and boys began looking at the three boys in awe.

"W-who are they?" Jisung questioned gazing towards Felix.

"U-uh well I don't-"

"They are the 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 of J.Y.P.A, " Jeongin interrupted, "noted as the three most handsome and smartest of the school." He quickly looked down and played with his thumbs quietly. Jisung only hummed in response, looking over at the students. 

The students were all tall and handsome yet each uniquely different from the rest.

The one on the right was easily the most prettiest student in the whole school as well as one of the tallest. His appearance consisted of; a mole under his left eye, very plump pink lips and shiny, silky black hair. He was the epitome of boyfriend material - of course Jisung wasn't interested in having one...yet. He looked over towards Felix's direction, then quickly averted his eyes away. 

The one in the middle was huge, not as tall as the one on the right of course. But, he seemed to radiate strength and wisdom just by his posture, he held himself high above the students. He had power. He was a knight in Jisung's eyes, a being who held the formation of the 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. A leader. 

Jisung's wondering eyes began to focus on the left-most student however; the student was tall - not as tall as the other two students next to him but taller than Jisung, and had a confident aura around him. Not to mention, handsome but that was besides the point. Something was off about him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. 

"Who's that?" He pointed at the male he had been staring at.

"Him?" Jeongin looked up from his thumbs and followed Jisung's hand, "oh, that's Lee Minho, he's the school's all rounder. Maths, English, Korean, Science, you name it, he's aced it. He's also the school's number one ranked-"

"Hoe."

"Heartthrob," Jeongin glared at Seungmin. Seungmin narrowed his eyes and smirked at the younger glaring at him.

"What? I'm not wrong am I?" Seungmin playfully shrugged and turned his attention to Jisung, "Why? You interested in becoming his new plaything?" Jisung angrily pouted.

"I just thought something was off about him, nothing more," he crossed his arms in annoyance. Felix still not understanding anything simply looked at Seungmin puzzled. 

"So...what do these 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 do anyways? What's so special about them?" Felix asked genuinely. Seungmin rolled his eyes in response. 

"The 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 have the most power in the school, well mostly due to their consistently high grades and their parent's power," Seungmin quickly glanced over his shoulder making sure the three didn't hear him and leaned in closer towards Felix. "You didn't hear this from me but, those kids can get away with anything; bullying, cheating, murder, etc. you name it. They're untouchable-"

"-and unobtainable, right Seungmin?" a playful grin plastered on the youngest face. 

"Augh, whatever Jeongin-ah," Felix only nodded, pretending he understood what they said and turned towards Jisung - who was still staring at the black-haired student. 

"Hannie~, you're gonna burn holes into that guy's skull if you keep staring at him like that." The blonde stated the sentence a bit too loud causing the student to look towards Jisung. 

"I-i wasn't-," Jisung looked over at the student, getting startled at the sudden direct eye-contact with a flush of red filling his face. The student let out a small laugh, smirking at Jisung and winking at him. Jisung's body shuddered in response. 

_ 'Yeah, I'm definitely avoiding that one.' _

"ATTENTION STUDENTS!" A booming voice made Jisung snap his head towards the front of the hall. "We will now begin the induction ceremony."

⤜♥♕♥⤛

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the character filler chapter! I'm hopeful that Chapter 2 is a lot more full on >~<
> 
> Thanks for reading btw!
> 
> (Also yes ik some of you spell it mom and not mum, but, I'm Australian so it's slightly different ^^)


	3. Heart of the Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
I highly suggest viewing the wattpad ver. of this chapter for a better experience! However, if you prefer to read the written ver. please, continue reading :)  
Link to Wattpad: my.w.tt/S9UJppQD0Y

⤜♥♞♥⤛

_Oh, Alice..._

_Why don't you wake up for me?_

⤜♥♞♥⤛

Jisung shot his head up from the table and scanned the hall intensively. 

He had fallen asleep on his first day.

Mentally cursing at himself, he rubbed his eyes lousily - noticing a few students were leaving the hall and following some older looking students. 

_'Augh my head hurts, what was I supposed to do again?' _He glanced at the students around him and quickly spotted a cheery blonde waving at him.

"YO HANNIE~! OVER HERE MATE!!" The brunette grinned recognizing him and ran over to the boy at full speed, nearly tripping over his own laces. 

"So-," he heaved heavily, "what the hell did I miss?" Felix gleefully laughed at the boy and Jisung swore his heart was about to collapse right there and then. His laugh resonated like a beautiful melody; it was almost too good to be true. The kid was good-looking AND had a great laugh, who wouldn't fall for that?

"You really did sleep like a rock didn't you? I mean it was only 2 hours hannie," Felix wiped a fake tear from his eye, "a-anyways, we gotta follow the prefects to our designated classes. Don't worry mate, your first class is with me." He winked and nudged Jisung. The boy feeling a bit flustered at the gesture, coughed and straightened his tie. 

"I-i knew that! Just th-thought I test you!" He laughed awkwardly, trying to cover up his lies. "I totally knew you were in my class." 

"Pfft, right." 

The two stepped out into the corridors, following the prefects to their designated classrooms. They talked about various things and got to know a lot more about each other. For one Felix was from the same country as Chan so, Jisung insisted on Felix to come with him at lunch to meet him. He attempted to speak English with the Australian though slightly broken, he learnt new words from Felix like 'ciggie' and 'bludger', but he didn't know what they meant. Another was the students - nearly all the students at the school were either attractive, wealthy or extremely smart. Or, all three - one which Jisung thought was highly unlikely until he saw ᴊ.ʏ.ᴘ.ᴀ. 

Over 10% of the school's students graduated with a Rank 1 - the highest rank a student could get in Seoul, and at least 5% of the most influential personnel in South Korea graduated from this school. Not only that, Rain, one of Korea's most influential entertainer of all time - graduated from ᴊ.ʏ.ᴘ.ᴀ. 

It was unimaginable. 

What kind of school was this?

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

Loud footsteps rang on the wooden floors as the students entered the classroom. One by one each uniformly sat at the desks, wandering eyes directed themselves onto the teacher. Stalking him as he approached the front of the class. A sound of a pin drop could be heard as the teacher rested his palms on his desk. 

"Welcome new students, I am Lee Park and I will be your class teacher for today." He straightened his dark reading glasses and focused his sunken eyes onto the student's faces. "It appears we have everyone here, students please come to the front to collect your student diaries once your name has been called out." 

He scanned the area and noticed the confused looks on many of the students faces. He cleared his throat.

"As you may know," he looked up at a student who was dazed and confused, "SHOULD have known, you will be given student diaries. Each will have their own 'card' inside and also your I.D., do not lose your I.D."

"Ahem, I will now call out student's one by one to the desk. Please, collect your diary as I hand it to you and return to your seats."

A student hesitantly raised his hand.

"Wh-what's the card for?"

The teacher sighed, taking off his reading glasses and rubbing his eyes. "The 'card' is your indicator. It decides what homeroom you have been put into. The card is located inside your diary in a red envelope. There are Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Clubs. These homerooms are also split into different classes: Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks. Remember, your cards may change depending on how well you do today and after your 'initiation's' . So, don't think just because you are in the 'Ace' class you will be safe from moving down." 

Students gasped, and within moments they began to murmur and gossip to each other. Felix turned to Jisung confused and whispered, "so, what do we do again? I don't understand." Jisung sighed and tried to explain the whole 'card' fiasco to him in the easiest way possible until he heard a loud booming voice coming from the front.

"SILENCE! I will now call out student name's one by one. Please, collect your diaries as I hand them out to you and quietly return to your seats." 

The students were silenced and awaited their names to be called out by the teacher. Slowly, students grabbed their diaries from the front and either groans or cheers left their lips as they were seated. It was only a matter of time until...

"HAN JISUNG!"

"H-HERE!" The brown-haired boy hastily moved from his table and swiftly took the diary from Mr. Park. As he turned to walk back to his seat, he could feel the stares of the student's stabbing into his chest. He held his head low, their eyes glued to him as he attempted to quickly go to his seat and sit down.

"He looks like a squirrel; his cheeks are really round." 

"I don't think he will be able to last here very long; this isn't your average school of course"

"He's kinda cute, too bad his skills are probably average at the most – at least he might have a lot of money."

Han gulped as the whispers continued until the next student's name was called out, the student's eyes now fixated on them. The aussie looked worryingly at him and softly patted his back. "Hannie, you alright mate?" Jisung gazed at him sadly as he attempted to put on his best fake smile.

"Yeah, I'm alright mate." The blonde tenderly smiled at him, making the boy's heart slightly flutter.

"It will get better soon, I promise Hannie," the honest and sincere words pierced Jisung's heart as he softly nodded.

"F-felix I-", but before the words 'thank you' could escape Jisung's mouth, the blonde's name was called out.

"Here!" Felix leapt out of his seat and strutted towards the front, flicking his golden locks out of his face. It was as if time stopped then and there, as the boy was the centre of attention - his confident aura making him shine bright as a star. He kindly smiled at the teacher as he grabbed his diary and casually walked back to his seat. Seemingly unfazed by the jaw-drops among the student's, he quietly sat down next to Han. Felix turned to look at the boy and observed him as his eyes were widen intensely. 

"What's the matter hannie?" The aussie tilted his head in pure confusion. 

"H-huh? O-OH! N-nothing, l-lixie..." The boy trailed off; not wanting to tell the guy he was literally GLOWING but also because he realised, he just gave him a nickname. "I-I'M SORRY FELI-"

"Yo, chill out mate it's fine, plus it sounds pretty cute y'know? Lixie." Felix smiled as the brunette blushed in embarrassment. The student began to fidget with his hands and noticed the diary in front of him.

"Wh-whatever! Anyways, we should check out what homerooms we've been put into," The squirrel-faced boy swiftly opened the leather book. Its pages were filled with writing lines and the school's emblem towards the left-corner designed in gold. Behind the front cover, was a cardboard slip in which it contained a bright red envelope. The envelope held intricate symbols designed in a deep wine colour. It was small and compact; big enough to fit into the student's hand. Han carefully took out the envelope and opened it. Inside was just as Mr. Park described it, a card – more specifically, a playing card. He examined the card carefully and flipped it over to see what it was. 

**Queen of Diamonds**

The boy stared at the card. 

_Queen of Diamonds?_

Although, he was relieved to be in a higher class than Jack, he wondered why diamond – as it's considered one of the 'minor' homerooms in the school. '_Why couldn't it have been Spades or Hearts?_' He thought.

"Hey! HEY! Hannie, look! LOOOOOK!" The cheerful boy happily displayed his card to Jisung.

**Ace of Hearts**

The boy looked at the Aussie with sadness in his eyes; he'd secretly hoped that they would both be in the same homeroom and class. He let out a sigh as he showed the boy his card. Felix looked at him with the same look he had given him but, quickly lit up again.

"It's okay mate, we can still hang out with each other, right?" Jisung gently smiled at him and nodded. 

"Yeah, of course!" The boys quietly fist-pumped each other as Mr. Park called for the student's attention once more. After two hours of explaining and re-explaining school rules and policies to the students, the teacher ordered them to leave to their homerooms. 

Jisung although still confused as to where he was meant to go, blindly complied to Mr. Park's demands. As he got lost through the sea of people, he eventually ended up at the Diamond's common room. 

He stepped into the large common room and was immersed into the calming atmosphere. The large wooden bookcases stretched themselves to the marble roof; filled with rustic books and files. Dew that ran off the potted plants glittered gently, the view outside the windows were scenic almost as if they were painted. The students situated in the room held an almost caring nature amongst them; they were laid-back and quite peaceful students. They couldn't harm a fly if they tried - well, it was the vibe they gave off. Who knows what these students could do. 

The boy felt a bit out of place. Although the room was tranquil and serene enough for him to work, he didn't seem to fit in with many of the students there. He tried to strike up conversations with one but, only got a confused 'huh?' in response. Probably because the kid was too caught up in his book to notice the boy talking to him. Another attempt was made, this time he tried to crack a joke with a student though, they took him too literally when he said 'an hen-cyclopedia' was used to learn more about eggs and tried to search for one in the bookcases. 

Jisung slumped into one of the couches and fiddled with his thumbs. 

_'Well, this is gonna be one hell of a day.'_

⤜♥🤝♥⤛

**RING RING**

Quickly, he hopped off of the couch and sprinted out into the corridor. Finally, the boy could go to lunch and meet with his friends. He vaguely remembered a student's conversation about where the cafeteria may be situated but, instead followed the hordes of people. He whipped out his phone and began texting Chan.

sungie: YO HYUNG

chris-py: wassup?

sungie: WHERE U AT

chris-py: y the hell u writing in caps

sungie: whERE U ATTT

chris-py: cafeteria, second table

sungie: aMUREOCHI ANA

chris-py: sungie just get your ass over here, stan n'uest later

_That was easy', _he thought.

Being swept by the horde, he eventually made it to the cafeteria and spotted Chan.

"YAH CHRIS!" 

The blonde's head whipped around and a cheeky smile plastered on his face.

"SUNG-AH!! COME HERE BRAH!"

Jisung ran over to Chan with open arms, giving the elder a warm embrace. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted: Felix, Jeongin and Seungmin. 

"AH YOU GUYS! Wait, hyung did you already get introduced to these three already?" Slowly pulling out of the embrace and looking up at Chan.

"Ah, yeah. Felix is in the same class and homeroom as me, and I met the other two afterwards." 

"YOUR IN THE SAME CLASS AS LIXIE?!" The boy's jaw dropped. 

"L-lixie?"

"That would be me," the deep voiced boy smiled at Chan.

"What- no way! How come you didn't give me a nickname when we first met??" The elder pouting and playfully hitting Jisung's shoulder.

"Yeah! What about us sungie??" Seungmin chimed in with Jeongin nodding his head.

"Wh- well maybe if you didn't leave me at the table by myself I would have given you guys a cool nickname!" He accusingly glared at the two as they tried to reason with him. 

"Nah, nah it's probably because you have a cr-", the squirrel-faced boy immediately covered Chan's mouth.

"-uiser that is named Lixie!" He attempted to fake laugh in order to not let the others being suspicious. 

"I remind you of a car?"

"O-ONLY THE NAME YEP." The blonde busted out laughing at Jisung's stutter, with Jeongin and Seungmin joining in. Han quickly turned his face towards Chan who could feel a sense of anger brewing in the young boy. 

"hYUNG WHAT THE HELL," he whispered quietly to Chan as the others began to chat amongst themselves. 

"W-wait yOU ACTUALLY HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM?!", Chan widened his eyes as he whispered back to Jisung.

"YES OK I DO NOW DON'T SAY ANYTHING TO HIM OK?! OTHERWISE I'M BREAKING YOUR KNEECAPS." 

Chan raised his hands, "Ok, ok sungie chill."

Jisung puffed up his cheeks and sat down next to Chan. "I'll chill if you give me lunch." He shot a sly grin at the blonde causing him to roll his eyes. 

"The things I do for you sungie." 

Chan got up and went to order food for the group. 

Content with his achievement, Han chatted with the others; cracking a few jokes here and there. Out of curiosity, Jisung asked the group about what homerooms they were apart of and what class. Seungmin was placed as 'Queen of Clubs' whilst Jeongin was 'Jack of Spades'. The two went on about how their homerooms were packed with students and their horrible experiences with them. Seungmin was basically flexed on by all of the student's 'knowledge' of anything and everything, whilst Jeongin had hid in a closet; away from all the students as they kept on picking on him. Once the boys heard this, they all got into their fighting stances and were scheming on storming the Clubs homeroom when Chan came back with the goods.

They all sat down and told Chan about what happened. In unison, they all agreed to be apart of the Protect Jeongin Squad and ate the lunch Chan bought for them. It was only for a brief moment but, Jisung felt as if something, no, someone was missing.

And then it hit him.

"Hey Channie, where's Changbin-hyung?"

⤜♥♞♥⤛

The bell rang, indicating to the boys lunch was over. 

As the group began to disperse, Chan quickly told the rest he needed to rush to his next class and flashed a grin before running off into the corridors. It seemed off to Jisung that Chan didn't answer his question but, he merely brushed off the worrying thought.

Maybe Changbin was just participating in club activities?

Felix wrapped his arm over Jisung's shoulders as both began to walk with each other to their respective classes. 

"Soooo, who's this Changbin dude?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, he's just one of my friends who attends this school, he's in the grade above us alongside with Chan." Jisung flicked his bangs out of his face.

"Oh cool, I hope I can meet him then, Chan's a pretty cool dude and I'm sure the guy's the same." Jisung laughed awkwardly at Felix's trusting nature. Yeah, Changbin was 'pretty cool' but, also extremely hot-headed and the type to 'charge first, ask questions later'. A complete opposite to Felix. Felix was the sun whilst Changbin was a storm. 

"Well...I guess you can say that about him."

As the two walked in comfortable silence, Felix suggested they exchange numbers. Han happily accepted and gave out his number and Instagram handle. The blonde grinned excitedly and quickly turned on his camera, taking a quick selfie of the two before uploading the picture onto Instagram.

Jisung, noticing this, wrote a comment under the picture. Mentally slapping himself when he wrote, 'broski' with a heart next to it. 

_'Good job Jisung, totally didn't just brozone your crush.'_

Embarrassed, Han switched off his phone, not taking a look at the rest of the comment's in Felix's post.

They both waved goodbyes as Felix entered his classroom and Jisung continued to walk to his.

⤜♥♛♥⤛

It felt extremely quiet, it wasn't peaceful, however. In fact, it felt almost deafening, was it always this quiet? Maybe, he didn't notice it due to Felix's bubbly energy, but there was no one else in the corridors except him. 

Well, that's what he thought.

In the corner of his eye, he spotted a something slumped against the wall in between a space of two lockers. He carefully tip-toed closer to the figure, and his eyes widened.

The student was beaten and bruised up, his arms were covered in cuts and what seemed like burn marks. A cap hiding the student's face seemed vaguely familiar to Jisung. As he lifted the cap, his whole body tensed up.

"Ch-changbin, hyung?" 

⤜♥♛♥⤛

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a long time as I was using a new-ish format and had to change a few ideas. Hope you all don't mind me using images as a way to communicate the story.
> 
> BTW, Thank you for reading!
> 
> Also if you want to follow me on twitter or instagram that would be great uwu.  
Twitter: @vanillachuu_  
Instagram: vanillachuu


	4. Intertwined Fates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⤜♥✯♥⤛
> 
> "Hey, come on Alice!"
> 
> "A-Alice? Why do you call me Alice?"
> 
> "Why? Hmm...well...maybe it's because you remind me of her." "
> 
> How so?"
> 
> "You're curious, just like Alice!"
> 
> "But, why don't you call me by my real name? My name is..."
> 
> ⤜♥✯♥⤛

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like to view the image ver. of this chapter please view it on Wattpad! (Please do not read it there however, if you are sensitive to imagery of blood and cuts on wrists)  
Link: https://my.w.tt/4D6oB66fhZ

"Ch-Changbin hyung?"

The brunette softly caressed his hand against the student's cheek. Trailing across the dark red marks that were smeared on his face. The student's eyes traced the male's jawline, falling down towards the male's stomach. His pure white shirt had been slashed and torn; with fresh blood staining his clothes. Tears began to form from Jisung's eyes.

"Who did this to you, hyung?" he whispered softly, holding back the sharp pain throbbing in his throat. As tears rolled down his cheeks, he left his hand linger across Changbin's cheeks; feeling the roughness of the male's bruised skin before he closed his eyes.

He had never seen the male in such a state.

Changbin was strong...no scratch that, he was the strongest person Jisung had ever met in his life. Not only was he strong strength-wise, but, also mentally. Nothing could ever defeat Changbin; whether it was two or five people at once that ganged up on him. He could always take them down. He was just that type of person. And whenever Jisung or Chan got picked on by other kids, he would be the first one to step in and defend them.

He was courageous and filled with determination.

Something Jisung had always envied of the boy.

Changbin would always be criticised by others for his appearance and/or personality, but he'd always dismissed it. Never be bothered by it. He always told Chan and Jisung to never take spiteful words directed towards them to heart, because they will always be bothered by it and it will eventually break them from the inside.

_"Those bullies don't control you guys! You are your own person. Don't let what they say affect you, okay?"_  


Jisung missed Changbin, and promised himself that the two would meet up once more.

But, to see him like this.

_Was something he could never imagine._

He flickered his eyelids open, staring at the male's slumped body.

His eyes trailed down towards the man's hands and spotted... **a blood-stained card**.

** _In the male’s hand contained a bloodied Joker._ **

_"Wha-what the...what sort of card is tha-"_  
  


"**-nd, what do you think you're doing here?**"  
  


Jisung snapped his head around to find Mr. Park looming over him.

"S-sir! I-i just found him laying here and I-"

The old man clicked his tongue. "You shouldn't be here Han Jisung, go to class otherwise you will be late." His averted his gaze from the squirrel-faced boy and over to the student behind him. "I will take him to the infirmary."

"W-wait sir, I will go with yo-"

Mr. Park twisted his head towards the boy, snapping it in place. His face was contorted in a mixture of hatred and seriousness.

"Go. To. Class. Now." The man stared daggers into Jisung's chest as he picked up the limp student's body, slumping him over his shoulder and staggering off down the hallway.

Jisung stared at the two with a small gasp.

_'What the hell was all that about? ....I should tell Chan.'_

The boy whipped his phone out of his blazer pocket and texted his friend.

**sungie:** Hyung, we need to talk.

**sungie: **Meet me after class.

**sungie: **It's about Changbin-hyung.

_'That should do. I should get to class before that teacher catches me again.'_

Han ran down the hallway at great speed, heading towards a large set of wooden doors.

_'This really is gonna be a long day'_

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

Chatter and laughter erupted in the room, filling it with a comforting vibe...well comforting for a few students at least.

Seungmin was attempting to write notes in his book, trying to ignore the blatant whispers about him. _Did they know how obnoxious they were being? Besides, what's the point of whispering behind someone's back when they are right in front of you?_ The male simply rolled his eyes as he tried to block the noise out.

As he began to place his pencil on to the notebook to write his next sentence, he heard the sound of a door slamming open. He lifted his head up and a warm smile graced his lips.

Seungmin gave a small wave at the brunette as he stormed in to the class.

"You're late Hannie!"

The student shot his head up to the familiar noise.

"Hu-HUH?! MINNIE!! Also, NU UH! I'M EARLY BY A MINUTE." The brunette ruffled his soft hair as he trudged towards Seungmin's table. "I didn't know I would be in your class, why didn't you say anything at lunch?"

The boy shrugged. "I didn't know either, plus, I didn't want to ruin my ship."

Jisung tilted his head. "Your what now?"

Seungmin rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You are definitely NOT a man of culture if you don't know what 'shipping' means Hannie."

"The uh, package?"

Seungmin nearly fell out of his seat, grasping the table tightly so he didn't hit the ground. "God, Jisung, do you not know the ways of stan twitter?"

"What's a twitter?"

"Oh dear lord almighty."

"SILENCE!" The sound of a loud bang broke the two from their conversation as they fixated their gaze onto the teacher.

"Now, let us begin the class."

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

The class was a combined subject - Mathematics and English; to say that most of the students groaned at this fact would be an understatement. However, unlike most students, Jisung and Seungmin found no problem with the combined subject. Seungmin in particular, could answer all the questions with ease - explaining equations and ideas in intricate detail. His immense hall of knowledge no doubt left students in awe, even surprising the teacher. Jisung smiled at his friend explaining the question to the class - gazing at the male as he took it within himself to take the class, with the teacher recording the session within their book.

"Wow...he's amazing."

"He's a Queen? No, way..."

The student's muttered to themselves, with those that talked behind Seungmin's back now staring at him with their jaws dropped. Han glanced at those student's mischievously and let out a small chuckle - Seungmin doesn't look like much, but, in Jisung's mind that's exactly what he intended. He _didn't_ want to look like much, instead, opting to stay more towards the shadows. Only making a brief appearance once the moment was right. Then, once that moment was over, quietly slip back into the shadows.

And by shadows, he meant...well whatever Seungmin meant by 'twitter'. Jisung was sure the boy used it as a tool, a 'weapon' almost. Gaining whatever knowledge he could from it. He was sure of it. 

Zoning out of Seungmin's lesson, the boy gazed out the window; thinking back at what he had seen previously.

_'Changbin-hyung'_

The name of his friend rang loudly like sirens blaring in his head.

His thoughts were clouded with the male's almost-lifeless body that was strewn against the wall; the blood-soaked clothes and bruised up skin made Jisung tense up. Images of him kept repeating over and over again; the immense feeling of pain that Changbin had gone through, eating at his heart. But, what was even more concerning...was the card in his hyung's hand.

_'Joker' _What could it mean? Why was Changbin holding onto that card?

With much on his mind, he left his focus from the window and back at the front of the class. His eyes widened as Seungmin was looking at his direction.

He quickly shook his head out of his thoughts as Seungmin pointed at him.

"Jisung! What's the answer to this question?" The boy blinked and without paying much attention to what he said before, quickly said an answer.

"19!" Seungmin's eyes widened, with his mouth gaped open. He could feel the whole class stare at him. Feeling the sweat run down his neck, he hesitantly played with his tie. Did he get it wrong?Why was everyone staring at him? Why wasn't _he_ saying anything? 

"A-ah..uhm was that not the right answer?" Trying to not grab more of the student's attention, he tried to ask as quietly as possible. Seungmin closed his mouth and blinked at the boy confusingly.

"H-how did you get that?"

"O-oh so it wasn't right, my mist- wait what." It was now Jisung's turn to blink. "Wait...I got it right?" Seungmin furrowed his brow as he brought his hand to his chin.

"Yes, in fact you did, without me even reading the question." His finger slightly tapped his chin. "How did you get that answer?" Jisung's eyes searched around the room trying to come up with something on the spot.

"Ahah I uhm...guessed?" The boy rubbed his nape, letting out a confused laughter. It wasn't a lie, and he himself knew for a fact but, that didn't mean the narrowness of Seungmin's eyes let up once. His eyes were almost analysing Jisung; from the top to the bottom.

"I see." No one else in the room except those two could feel the rising tension in the air. After a few minutes of intense staring, Seungmin let out a small sigh and lowered his hand to his side. "Let us move onto the next question." Jisung gulped as he took out his pencil and began paying attention in class, not realising the watching eyes that were set upon him.

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

As class finished, Jisung hurriedly packed away his stationery and was about to run out of class when he felt a strong grip fall upon his shoulders. He looked back and spotted a tense expression written on Seungmin's face.

"Y-yo Minnie? What's up, I'm kinda in a rush here-"

"What was that all about in class?" The boy blinked not knowing how to respond.

"What do you mean Min-"

"You know exactly what I mean, you weren't even paying attention in class. Your mind was clouded with thoughts and yet you were able to answer the question perfectly! I didn't even read out the question, in fact if I did it would've taken at least the whole lesson to figure it out. So, how did you do it." The last sentence was more of a demand than a question but, Jisung brushed it off.

"I don't lie, I really did guess Minnie! Now, I...need to go!" He said, trying to wiggle out of the male's grasp. Seungmin huffed and tightly squeezed Han's shoulder before letting go. Han let out a small wince as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Fine. But, after school you are telling me everything you know." And with that, Seungmin brushed past the boy, blending in with the thick crowd. Jisung had a confused look spread on his face as he tried to comprehend what the hell just happened.

**DING!**

The bewildered boy hastily grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

**New message received from: Chris-py**

As soon as he received the notification, he quickly opened up his messages.

**Chris-py: **I'm at the infirmary with Changbin, meet there.

The boy rapidly shoved his phone back into his pocket and began surfing through the sea of students.

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

Running past the school nurse, the boy arrived at a resting bed; there he saw, Changbin laying down with bandages wrapped around his body with Chan sitting next to him.

"HYUNG!"

Jisung rushed over to Changbin's side and clasped his hand; rubbing it softly as he watched him intently. The male's breathing was steady but, his eyes were shut. Tears were forming from Jisung's eyes as he quietly nuzzled his head against the elder's arm. He had forgotten the blonde's existence since entering the room until Chan let out a small cough. Jisung glanced up at him, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

"Sungie...I...need to know where you found Changbin." Chan's demeanour from the warm person Jisung saw this morning was thrown out the window; instead, replaced with one who was stern and rigid. Han shook considerably as he let the words stutter out from his mouth.

"I-in the...h-hallway, near the l-lockers." Jisung sniffed, attempting to wipe away his tears. "D-do you know who did this to him hyung? I...I know you know something a-about it." Chan bit his lip as he tried to choose his next words carefully.

"I...h-he's just been picked on by some kids in the school, it's been a rough few years since he entered the academy," he ran his hand through his golden locks, "He's been picking fights with student's left and right, mostly because of me though."

Jisung's eyes widened.

"Y-you mean because-"

"Yeah, it's always because of that." The elder let out a small chuckle but, Jisung could hear the sadness in his tone.

"I-i'm sorry hyung...I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me before I got here though, you used to always tell me if both of you were in trouble..." Chan gulped at this.

"W-we didn't want to worry you sungie...to think you would get involved again, is the least that we want." The blonde tightly held his hands together and brought them to his head. "I...We didn't want what happened to you last time, to happen again." His voice cracked at the last sentence. Jisung looked sorrowfully at Chan, understanding what the elder meant. He slowly moved from his spot over to Chan and carefully pulled him into an embrace. The blonde steadily wrapped his arms around the younger's waist and returned the hug.

The two were like this for a few minutes until the nurse ushered Jisung and Chan out of the room to get to their next classes. Jisung looked at his timetable to find where his last class was, and waved Chan goodbye before walking the other direction. After taking a steps however, he looked back towards the elder's direction - watching the boy walk down the hallway.

Han tightly gripped his arm - continuing to watch Chan from afar.

_'Why did you lie to me hyung?'_

⤜♥♛♥⤛

_"So, what you are telling me is true, correct?"_

_A young figure gulped and furiously nodded their head, shaking uncontrollably. A loud slamming noise vibrated within the room, as a male figure combed through his hair with his hand. The male looked at the papers intently then back at the shaking figure. _

_"You do realise that because of this, we will have to change the whole Initiation exam correct?" The male threw the papers on his desk. "Do you realise how badly this could effect our reputation, right?" His stare locked onto the figures standing in the room._

_"You all had one job in the entrance exam, now make sure to 'fix' it in the Initiation exam. We can't have more student's sorted in the wrong groups." The figures nodded in unison._

_"Oh... and don't forget," a wicked smile creeped on the male's face, "prepare the student's for..."  
_

_"The King's Game."_

⤜♥♛♥⤛

**A/N :**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took a long time to write and rewrite this chapter, hopefully, it makes sense?**

**The next chapter will surely be out this week, and if it isn't sue me.**

**Anyways, I would love to hear what kind of theories or just general thoughts about the story you guys might have!**

**BTW, as always, thank you for reading.**❤️


	5. Invited Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⤜♥✯♥⤛  
The sounds of small footprints hitting the grass roughly scurried further away from the figure as they trudged towards a large oak tree.  
"Come on Alice! Hurry up!"  
"I'm coming ok! Geez..." A small child approached the yelling child at the tree slowly; placing their hands on their knees panting when they finally reached the oak. "Why did you insist on running again?"  
"Because we're here, look!"  
In front of the two was a large garden - filled with blossoming vibrant flowers; the aroma of sweetness flowed towards them as the cool breeze blew past their fingertips. It was as if a hint of magic was present. Making the garden that more special, as if it was their own wonderland. Their own escape from reality.  
"I wish I could play here forever...don't you agree Alice?"  
"Yeah...forever," The child looked out towards the two's wonderland, "but, I would rather spend it here with you...-̸̢͝͡͝-̸̷̢͘͟-̴̧̕͡-̸̢͝͡͝-̸̷̢͘͟-̴̧̕͡-̸̢͝͡͝-̸̷̢͘͟-̴̧̕ ..."  
"Yeah...me too, Alice."  
⤜♥✯♥⤛

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin:  
SORRY FOR THIS IT'S SO LATE AUGH anyways I would like to state I will continue to put Woojin in my stories. No matter what some stays might think, I will always see Stray Kids as nine or none. Thank you.
> 
> P.S.  
I DIDN'T REALIZE I COULD USE PICTURES SHSHSSHSHS so now I'm gonna promote my artwork soz, hope you like.

⤜♥🐿️♥⤛

The sound of the last bell rang obnoxiously, allowing the brunette to let out a sigh he had been holding onto.

To say that the class was boring, grueling and mentally-draining would only be half of it. Most of the time Jisung only had thoughts about Chan and Changbin; his mind lingering back on the elder's injuries. Blood stains. Cuts. Bruises. The sights of his hyung's injuries made Jisung's skin crawl. 

Who could do this to him? 

Why did Chan lie to him? 

And, what the hell was that Joker card?

It was only the first day of school and he was already thinking of a well-thought out plan to move schools. With so many instances happening at the same time, he honestly questioned himself how he didn't have a headache by now. What he was sure of however, was the weight he felt on his back by the amount of slumping he's been doing. Rubbing his nose bridge, he furrowed his brows and locked eyes with a furious, yet puppy-faced student. The student's face screwed up even more when he spotted Jisung and began to storm through the waves of students towards him.

"Minnie what's up-"

"We need to talk. Now." The boy tightened his hand around Han's wrist and quickly lead him out towards the school gates. Jisung's eyes darted around looking aimlessly at the school grounds as he thought about what he just got himself into. The pair eventually got out of the crowd and stopped near an empty spot outside of the school gates. Seungmin loosened his tense grip and let out an anger-filled huff. Finally, relived from the tightness of his grip Jisung soothingly rubbed his hand against his wrist. The boy turned towards him and crossed his arms.

"You're telling me everything you know, Han Jisung," Han immediately cringed at the use of his full name, tensing his shoulders. 

"What the heck do you mean Minnie?"

Seungmin stared holes into the boy, scanning his facial expressions for a hint of breaking character. Immediately sighing as Jisung's bewildered eyes stared back with his hand rubbing the back of his neck. He slowly relaxed his crossed arms and placed them on his sides, not before locking eyes once again with Han. 

"You really have no idea, do you?"

"No, I really don't Minnie-"

"Ok, fine, I'll explain it to you." The boy interrupted, running his hand through his hair before speaking. "First of all, how do you not know what Twitter is? I mean you have Instagram for god sakes, yet you don't know what stan twitter is?" Jisung slightly gaped his mouth to argue before Seungmin raised a finger shushing him. "I'm not finished." He crossed his arms once more. "Why the hell were you spacing out before? Oh, and don't think I will let you off on getting that question right out of pure luck. Look, I know we only met today but, anyone who paid at least a little bit of attention to you could easily catch your sombre expression written all over your face." His face softened a bit. "Come on Sungie, what's wrong? You can tell me."

Jisung bit his lower lip at the mention of his nickname. What could he say to him? 'Oh yeah, I just saw my best friend's nearly lifeless body slumped in the hallway and was just thinking about why he was beaten up to a pulp.' It wasn't an easy topic to bring up, let alone with someone he just met. He sighed as he looked at Seungmin's concerning gaze on him. There was something about Seungmin that wanted him to spill out every single bit of information and detail about what happened. Was it because he was trustworthy? Or, was it because he just wanted to let go of this weight that had been thrown upon his shoulders? Whatever it was, Jisung knew deep down, he could trust his new-found friend. As he spoke, Seungmin's eyes sharpened onto every word that fell out of Jisung's mouth. Like a running faucet, details of Changbin's injuries and the 'Joker' card he saw flowed out easily into sentences, and paragraphs. He then closed his mouth suddenly, remembering the lifeless look on his hyung's face. He tried to hold back his tears as Seungmin gave a light empathetic nod. 

"I see, I'm sorry Sungie. I shouldn't have pried information out of you like that." He pulled Jisung into a warm embrace and let him rest his head on his shoulder. The boy slowly stroked the chestnut-haired student's head; letting him quietly sob. As Han muttered words of sorrow and small apologies, Seungmin carefully comforted him whispering words like 'it's okay', and 'he will be okay' - drawing small circles on his back. Few minutes felt like hours to the two as a comforting silence fell upon them. It was relaxing, almost tranquil. Jisung finally let up from Seungmin's shoulder wiping away his last tears. His eyes felt puffy and sore from the amount of crying he did and realized he hasn't felt this way in ages. 

_Relieved. _

_Comfort._

_Relaxed._

He no longer felt weighed down than he did earlier. To be honest, it's been a few years since he let his emotions flow out like that. He felt as if his soul had been healed. 

"You feeling better now Sungie?" The boy quickly nodded. Seungmin smiled at him gently before patting his head. "That's good, you know I'm always here for you right?" The boy nodded again this time returning the smile. 

"Of course Minnie! And you know I'll always be there for you too."

⤜♥🐕♥⤛

The two talked continuously as they walked towards Jisung's house. Their chatter mostly consisted of Seungmin ranting about how Jisung 'needed' to get a twitter account, prompting the boy to hastily create an account for him and follow their friends accounts. As Jisung waved goodbye to Seungmin and entered his house, Seungmin was left in deep thought; walking towards his street. 

_What did Sungie mean by a 'Joker' card?_

Entering into his apartment, he slumped down in front of his screen; staring intensely at the open documents that filled his desktop. 

_'Guess there's more questions that need to be answered.'_

He cracked his knuckles and rolled his head. Almost abruptly, he let his hands fall towards his keyboard and began furiously typing. 

Seungmin knew everything about everyone and everyplace that he could get his hands on. Personnel ID, residential areas, partners, bank accounts, everything and anything that could be obtained on the internet - would be in Seungmin's hands. But, there will always be that rare moment when he missed **something** and all hands would be on deck. And such an occurrence just happened to appear today. He scoured the darkest depths of the web - hacking main frames of large organisations; if the information was obtainable through his screen he could get it. That's of course, except for the very school he's attending. 

ᴊ.ʏ.ᴘ.ᴀ, aka J.Y.Pacific Academy. 

No matter how many times he searched and rummaged for information regarding the school's dealings, he would always come empty handed. It was a first, a first in a long time that he could not find the information he was looking for. He knew there was something shady about the school, but, only rumors and old archives could provide some real answers. Although, most rumors were obviously fake, there were some that sounded so out of place; they could've been real. And that's all it took for Seungmin to analyse archives upon archives.

As expected of a school with a 'clean' reputation, there was barely any information regarding the rumors. However, there was a newspaper of interest Seungmin found among the many archives - which honestly surprised him the most, out of all the things he thought he could find. The paper was old, give or take 10 years at least, and there wasn't much out of place on the front page. From it's presentation, no one would assume there was anything important written on it; that's of course if they weren't looking for anything in particular. If one was as curious as Seungmin then looking past the front cover would be no biggie, especially when the most important part is right near the end of the paper. 

Towards the end was a single written piece, tucked away with other news about entrepreneurs so it didn't stand out too much and looked completely hidden. As if it wasn't meant to be found. But, anyone would think someone's death would be headline news, wouldn't they? That's what struck the article as odd - the son of a major CEO at the time dies, still in his school uniform; and it wasn't on the front page nor talked about in any other article. Unsurprisingly, the uniform was from the very school he was attending, yet there was no name for the male. Which only made his searching more complicated. However, after researching websites upon websites, he found out who the student was. 

Myungdae Kim, son of high-profiled CEO Myungdae Choi - founder of Myungdae Industries. According to the article, the boy was found strangled in an alleyway. His body was found littered with scars and cuts as well as cigarette burns on his legs. He scoured the website on which he found about Kim in order to find details about his school life, which it didn't, to his frustration. Luckily for him though, since he had the student's name he could search through student's personal blogs about Myungdae Kim. Kim was 'apparently' one of the three 'Princes' of the school and was apart of the 'Aces' class. However, that was as much relevant information he could get. The rest of the blogs he searched consisted of creepy candid photos of the student and mindless high school gossip. Seungmin rolled his eyes.

He got somewhere. 

But, it wasn't enough.

There were too many questions left unanswered. For one, he still didn't know the purpose of the cards and why there was a 'random' Joker card. He knew the cards were more than just 'assigning' classes and that there was a system behind it, but what?

Two, were the purpose of having the Princes. They were apart of the school's system no doubt. They were all older than him especially the tall one, with the pretty mole under his eyes and plump li-

_'What the hell am I thinking?'_

He shakes his head and continues focusing his intense gaze back into his blue screen. Suddenly, a noise comes from his phone. 

**@hanniebee** \- MINNIE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WE HAD TO MOVE INTO THE DORMS?!

**@hanniebee - **YA YA YA **@eenieminnie**

**@hanniebee **\- mINNIEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEE **@eenieminnie**

Seungmin let out a small giggle at his friend's tweets, even though he told him specifically to direct message him if he wanted to chat - guessed he didn't get the memo. Jisung's ranting almost reminded him of an angry squirrel - he nearly busted a lung at the thought of it. The fact that Jisung slept through the whole assembly and didn't hear a word about the fact students had to move into the dorms after the first week, didn't make it any better. His mouth curled downwards at the realization.

_'Right, I have to move out.'_

He looked around at his small one room apartment and sighed.

_'Well, it's not like anyone's gonna miss me here.'_

Rolling back his shoulders, he lifted himself from his chair and began packing up his equipment. 

⤜♥♟♥⤛

The first week almost went by in a flash; as students started making their way to the school board for their assigned dorm rooms, two boys in particular started jumping up and down.   
  
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM YASS!" Felix celebrated as he grabbed Jisung's hands, making the boy blush slightly.

Seungmin's face flushed, embarrassed at Felix's squealing. He glanced around at the other students, checking they weren't looking their way. He then looked back at his friends celebrating and a small smile formed on his face. 

_'It's nice, being with them - maybe I won't be alone.'_

He quickly averted his eyes as he saw Felix flash a smug grin towards him. Attempting to hide his smile, he rolled his eyes and pouted.

"Why am I friends with your extra asses, augh."

"Minnie, you know you love our extra asses~" Jisung cooed, watching intently as Seungmin's face turned bright red. 

"Sh-shut it sungie."

"AW DID MINNIE STUTTER?"  
  
"LIX I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS, NOW SHUT."

Felix laughed whole-heartedly, missing Jisung's heart eyes on him as he threw his head back. 

"I have to agree with Seungmin-hyung on this one, y'all are loud as fu-" Seungmin, Felix and Jisung rushed towards the boy closing his mouth.

"OUR PRECIOUS MAKNAE ISN'T SWEARING ON OUR WATCH."

The four of them continued to bicker and celebrate as a pair of eyes watched them intently. A sudden eruption of laughter came from one of them. 

"Yah, the newcomers are pretty interesting ay, school president?" The male continued to laugh as he spied on the students. 

"Minho, I told you to call me Woojin - you know I hate that title." The student crossed his arms as he looked over the crowd.

"Right, right, of course school president." Minho stuck his tongue out and snaked his arm around the tall male student's shoulders sitting next to him. "Hyunjinnie, what do you think of them?" The boy merely glanced up and quickly averted back to his phone; shrugging. Minho clicked his tongue at the lack of reaction and turned his attention to a blonde haired student running towards them. 

"WOOJIN!" The blonde gasped as he grabbed Woojin by his collar. "You told me that there would be no more games and that this one would be the last one for another ten years!" Woojin raised an eyebrow at him and pulled the male's hand off of him. 

"Chan, you know I don't control the game's outcome, and there were even more students that got enrolled than expecte-" He could feel a glare piercing at him.

"Those are my friends, you said you wouldn't let anyone close to me get hurt-"

"Those are your friends? I guess this makes this even more interesting Chris." Minho chimed in glancing back at the group. "Knowing your friends, they would be easily convinced to do anything if the right buttons are pushed." A sly grin formed on his face as he licked his lips. 

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM-" Woojin harshly placed a hand on Chan's chest stopping him from moving any closer to Minho, who had his hands raised in a mock surrender. 

"Stand down Chan. You know what will happen if you cross this line." The blonde haired student shot his eyes desperately towards the school's president. 

"Y-you...you said you would protect Changbin! I trusted you! He got hurt again, even worse than last time!" The three boys looked at him questioningly, raising a brow. 

"What do you mean...'hurt' again Chan?" The blonde only let out a strained huff before staring intently at Woojin. 

"He was found lying unconscious in the West Wing Hallway in a space between two lockers. He had multiple cuts, bruises and a gash on his stomach." Chan felt tears beginning to form but, attempted to hold back as long as he could. He knew he couldn't show weakness in front of these 'three'. Minho let out a low growl and stood up from his sitting position. 

"I think I might know who touched our 'slave' school prez." His intense gaze never ceased to make Chan so afraid. The blonde gulped as Minho shoved past him with his hands deep into his blazer pockets. "I'll be back later. Cover for me won't ya?" Woojin only shook his head in response but, knew what the boy meant. Another thing he will have to keep in check. He looked back once more at Chan who seemed to be confused at to what happened. 

"Once Minho tracks down a person, they never leave his sight. They don't call him the school's 'Battle Axe' for nothing after all." A small breath left his mouth. "Chan, I would like to have a full report of what Changbin's injuries are and who found him." He pinched his nose bridge as he closed his eyes in deep thought. "As much as you don't believe us, we didn't hurt Changbin." His eyes seemed regretful as he looked at Chan's broken form. 

"I can promise you that at least...**Chris**."

⤜♥♛♥⤛

**BONUS ARTWORK:**

This link doesn’t work yet sorry ;;-;; 

> [](//imgur.com/a/Ut15U5U)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Wow that took a long time didn't it!
> 
> Sorry about that guys, I'm currently graduating soon so I wasn't able to post this as soon as I could (as well as with the Woojin situation). But, with that said I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Also if you have any theories on what this story is about, I would love to hear it!
> 
> P.S.
> 
> PLEASE DON'T SUE ME KJSSKJAKJSKASJ


	6. ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Readers,

This story is being rewritten! And will be revamped and uploaded at the end of this month hopefully, I'm very sorry for not posting this beforehand! Wattpad readers would've seen this ages ago but I forgot to announce it here sorry :'( 

Thank you to all who have read the story to this point, I am very happy that a lot of you enjoyed it and hope you will like this new version much more.

Thank you and see you guys soon,

VanillaChuu

(ALSO IM SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING MY OTHER FIC ILL UPLOAD ALL THOSE CHAPTERS LIKE THIS WEEK AS WELL DKJSDMS)

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been imported from Wattpad, it has images and is the first place for the updated chapters~ 
> 
> So if you like this story consider checking it out on my wattpad uwu. https://wattpad.com/user/vanillachuu_


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